Mavericks managing the situation

Rick Carlisle seems to be pushing all the right buttons (PER Diem: Feb. 1, 2012)

Matthew Emmons/US PresswireAfter a down season with Orlando and Phoenix, Vince Carter is trying to bounce back.

It's a weird season, and nothing underscored that more than Sunday's San Antonio-Dallas matchup. Although it was the usual barn burner we've come to expect from Spurs-Mavs, it came with the slight asterisk that Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki were basically irrelevant to the outcome, and Manu Ginobili and Jason Kidd weren't there at all.